


Odd Man Out

by IdrisTardis7878



Category: Major Crimes (TV), NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: F/M, I had so many ideas for this one, and maybe he'd felt protective of deeks like he does with rusty, but i don't know if i will be able to, but they'd drifted apart, crossover fic, deeks could've mentored him a bit, i had soooo many ideaaaassss, oh and louie would have been one of the cops that reported to the scene, oh and rusty!, part of me would still like to finish it one day, there was a whole part where deeks had dated flynn's daughter years ago, there was so much i wanted to do with this, they'd relate over not great childhoods and lawyer stuff, when deeks shot his own father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 10:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16890924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdrisTardis7878/pseuds/IdrisTardis7878
Summary: A crossover fic for Major Crimes and NCIS: LA that will, sadly, probably remain unfinished. If I ever do go back to it, it will have 2 or 3 parts. This was my idea of how to deal with Deeks' whole IA investigation. This chapter just was the setup - check the tags on this piece for all the other ideas I had - but there's some good stuff here.The fic is set just after LA’s Chernoff, K. (6x24) and during-ish Major Crimes’ Wish You Were Here (4x09) and Fifth Dynasty (4x10).





	Odd Man Out

Deeks fought hard against the urge to fidget as the elevator continued its steady ascent, but the higher it rose the more difficult it was to resist the increasingly tempting prospect. He managed to hold himself back from his familiar nervous habit of raking a hand through his hair – even in its newly-shortened and less shaggy state, he couldn’t afford it. Showing up rumpled or disheveled in any way would not be acceptable – it had been made thoroughly clear to him that there was a much stricter dress code enforced where he was going than was expected at the OSP.

But try as he might, he couldn’t stop himself from tapping an absentminded rhythm on the railing of the elevator with the fingers of his left hand. He recognized it as the drum track from an eighties pop song Kensi (uncharacteristically) had had on repeat in the car the other day at the same moment he caught the eye of the elevator’s only other occupant, who was, unfortunately, glaring at him. More specifically, the other person, a guy about his age with dark hair and a dark suit, was staring pointedly at the hand that was doing the tapping, and Deeks could tell that his irritation was mounting with every passing moment.

Thankfully, the elevator slowed and the other man exited, shooting Deeks another glare for good measure. The elevator resumed its upward trek and he leaned against the back wall with a sigh, feeling tightness in the shoulders of his suit jacket as he crossed his arms in front of him. He wondered idly what Sam and Callen would say if they could see him right now – hair trimmed, (practically) clean shaven, wearing a suit to work, badge clipped firmly to his belt. He gave himself a moment to imagine the jokes they would crack at his expense before shutting down that train of thought. He didn’t let himself think about Kensi at all – if he did, he might not make it through this shift.

Problem was, he was going to have to make it through a hell of a lot longer than that, and he didn’t have the first clue how he was going to manage it. He was still trying to wrap his head around how it was he’d ended up here instead of sitting in his apartment with Monty for the foreseeable future. Any other detective who was the focus of an IA investigation surely wouldn’t have been allowed to switch divisions, much less work active cases – they’d be on administrative leave, no ifs, ands, or buts.

He was so deep in thought, musing on the cascade of events that had led him here, that he missed the elevator’s arrival at his destination. In fact, he didn’t realize that the doors had opened until he heard someone speak.

“Good morning, detective,” a warm, but unmistakably authoritative voice said from the corridor in front of him. He looked up, pulled out of his thoughts, and found himself face to face with Captain Sharon Raydor, the woman who would control life as he knew it for as long as LAPD decided they had reason to keep him under investigation. “Welcome to Major Crimes.”

 

* * *

 

_The room was pleasantly dark, Kensi was a blissfully warm presence curled into his side, and there was little more that Deeks wanted at the moment other than to stay exactly where he was for as much of the next twenty-four hours as possible. Which was why the sudden blaring of his ringtone was even less welcome than usual._

_Fumbling for the phone where it rested on his nightstand, he managed to grab it before the ringing stopped. Kensi gave a muffled snort-snore into his shoulder before burrowing further into him, but didn’t wake up. Blearily, he stared at the incoming number with a feeling of dread before swiping at the screen. “Hel…hello,” he muttered, yawning partway through the greeting._

_“Good morning, Mr. Deeks,” Hetty’s dry, even tones greeted him, sounding perfectly alert despite the early hour. “I’m afraid I’m going to need a few moments of your time.”_

_He scrubbed his free hand through his hair and glared into the darkness as he listened to his boss outline what she needed from him. By the time the brief conversation was over, he was so wound up he wanted to throw his phone against the wall. He settled for tossing it haphazardly back towards the nightstand before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He was just about to stand when Kensi’s voice drifted over him. “Deeks?” she questioned softly. “Did we get called in? We just got off that plane from Moscow a few hours ago. I thought we had today day off.”_

_He turned slightly so that he could run his hand soothingly along her side and shook his head before realizing she couldn’t really see him. “Go back to sleep, Kens.”_

_“Did my phone ring?” she persisted, sounding more alert now and shuffling up so that she was sitting against the headboard. “I didn’t hear it.”_

_Knowing that she wasn’t going to let it drop, he sighed. “Nope, just mine.”_

_She leaned over towards the nightstand on her side of the bed and clicked on the lamp. The light was soft, but he still winced as its soft glow spilled across the room. Looking curiously at him, she asked. “LAPD, then?”_

_Nodding, he couldn’t help the slightly bitter laugh that escaped. “Yeah. Well…sorta. That was Hetty,” he clarified, “but it was about the IA investigation. I, uh…she wants me to be at the boat shed at eight.”_

_Kensi glanced at the clock, her face contorting in distaste when she saw the time. “Ugh…really?! I don’t think I’ll be awake enough by then for whatever crap we’re going to have to deal with. At least not without a ton of coffee.”_

_Shaking his head, he glanced at her briefly before standing and scanning the room for his jeans. “Kens…” he trailed off. He knew she wouldn’t like hearing what he was about to say any more than he would enjoy saying it, but he had to be clear with her. “…Hetty was very, uh, specific. They want me there at eight…alone.”_

_She huffed out a disbelieving laugh as she stood and started searching for her own clothes. “Well, there’s what they want, and what they’re going to get,” she said, rifling through the part of his closet that had become hers for a shirt before turning to him, eyes flashing. “If Hetty, or the LAPD, or **you**  think that there’s any way in hell I’m not coming along, then think again.”_

_As he watched her stride around the room, dressing with sharp, jerky movements that telegraphed her agitated state, the thought struck him that – no matter what happened with Hetty or this IA investigation – he was an incredibly lucky man to have such an amazing woman in his life. But it was far from the ideal moment for divulging the full extent of the sappy feelings he was having about his kickass girlfriend, so he settled for a quietly murmured “thanks, Kens,” before heading for the kitchen to get started on the coffee._

_If what was coming was as bad as he feared, Kensi wouldn’t be the only one who would need a ton of it before the morning was over._

_-/-_

_As it turned out, they arrived at the boat shed roughly ten minutes early. Deeks killed the truck’s engine and they sat in a pensive silence – he stared steadily at the building but made no move to get out of the car until he felt the warmth of Kensi’s hand covering his own where it was still gripped tightly around the gearshift. “Deeks, c’mon,” she murmured, moving to open her door._

_“Yeah,” he muttered, shaking off his inertia. “Right…let’s, uh, get this over with.” He got out of the truck and headed up the path towards the building, Kensi falling into step beside him. They lapsed into silence again, but he reached out and clasped her hand, threading his fingers through hers. He squeezed gently and she squeezed back – the small gesture reassuring him more than he could truly say._

_“We’ll get through this, Deeks. No matter what, it’s going to be okay.”_

_He sighed, releasing her hand and pushing open the door. “I hope you’re right.”_

_Entering the boat shed, Deeks wasn’t surprised to see that Hetty had company from the LAPD. Two other women stood speaking with her – the younger one he didn’t recognize, but the older one was vaguely familiar though he couldn’t immediately place her. It was the kind of hazy recognition that made him think he’d probably seen her face during press conferences rather than ever having met her in person before._

_“Ah, Mr. Deeks, thank you for being so prompt,” Hetty said, turning to him. When she spotted Kensi standing to his right, her lips thinned into a tightly-pressed line that bespoke her annoyance. “And I see Ms. Blye has joined us as well. Were my instructions not precise enough?”_

_He shrugged, attempting to maintain an indifference he definitely didn’t feel. “Seeing as this – whatever this is – has more to do with LAPD than NCIS, I thought of them more as loose suggestions.” He knew he was treading – hell, more than likely leaping wildly over – the line, but Hetty simply regarded him for a long moment._

_Her mouth pinched in even more tightly, before she finally shook her head and relented. “Very well, Miss Blye. But you are not to discuss any part of this meeting with Messrs. Callen and Hanna until I have spoken to them, and that is **not**  a suggestion, loose or otherwise,” her eyes cut to Deeks for a moment before flicking back to Kensi. “I trust that we’re clear?”_

_Deeks glanced at Kensi in time to see her nod stiffly, before he turned back to Hetty. “Well, I can’t imagine this is going to be fun. The question is how difficult will it be?” He looked briefly at the two other women, who were still waiting patiently next to Hetty. “No offense, of course.”_

_Hetty shook her head again, before gesturing to the older of the two women – the one whose face he couldn’t quite place. “Detective Marty Deeks, Special Agent Kensi Blye, this is Captain Sharon Raydor of LAPD’s Major Crimes Division, and this,” she indicated the younger woman, “is one of her detectives, Amy Sykes. They are here today because, for the foreseeable future, Detective Deeks will be joining Captain Raydor’s division, and Detective Sykes will be taking his place as liaison to the OSP.”_

_“What?!” Kensi exclaimed indignantly. “Hetty, you can’t –”_

_“I’m afraid, Ms. Blye, that I must. The department was quite clear – if we wished to keep the liaison program long term, Detective Deeks would be recalled immediately, and another detective would take his place until such time as the LAPD determines that their IA investigation is complete, or unnecessary.”_

_Deeks had remained silent to this point, but couldn’t hold back his most pressing questions. “Why not suspend me? Or send me back to my old division.”_

_“I believe I can answer that, detective,” Captain Raydor finally spoke up. “Before taking over at Major Crimes, I was with the FID –”_

_“FID?” Kensi asked._

_“Force Investigation Division,” Deeks murmured. “It’s part of Internal Affairs.”_

_“Yes, well, you’re quite right that administrative leave would be the normal course of action in cases like this,” the captain continued, “but Ms. Lange was able to convince the chief that you should be allowed to stay on the job.”_

_“He agreed on two conditions,” Hetty remarked. “You would not participate in undercover investigations, and you would be placed under the supervision of someone he trusted.”_

_“And if I say no?” Deeks asked._

_Hetty paused before answering, regarding him with seriousness. “In that case, detective, you would indeed be placed on administrative leave for the duration of the investigation – and the liaison program with NCIS would be terminated immediately.”_

_Deeks was silent for a moment, considering the two options, which were almost equally bad in his opinion. He glanced at Kensi and the blend of anger and distress on her face was pretty much the exact match for what he was feeling. Catching her eye, they proceeded to have a quick, but intense non-verbal conversation that ended with her nodding resignedly. He turned back to face Hetty and the others. “I’m in,” he said quietly._

_Captain Raydor nodded decisively. “Good. We’ll see you tomorrow morning at nine. Oh, and detective,” she hesitated a moment, skimming her gaze over him quickly before continuing. “The dress code in our division-”_

_“I know,” he interjected, trying – and mostly succeeding – at keeping the tinge of annoyance he felt out of his voice. “I do. Suit it is.” He attempted a smile to lighten the moment, but he’s pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace._

_But Captain Raydor simply nodded at him and moved to speak to Hetty for a moment while Detective Sykes approached him and Kensi. “Look, I know this is awkward to say the least –”_

_“You think?” Kensi bit out, pinning the other woman with a sharp look._

_“Hey,” Sykes replied. “This wasn’t my idea. I was just as much in the dark as you were until earlier this morning. I’m sure your team is great, but it’s not going to be any picnic for me to be dropped into the middle of a new squad without warning, all the while knowing they probably wish I was him,” she pointed at Deeks though her attention was still on Kensi._

_“I get it, Sykes.” Deeks spoke up before his partner could respond, attempting to defuse the situation – also he genuinely was curious. “Why you?”_

_Sykes huffed out a breath, shrugging. “Not sure, really,” she said. “More than likely, my military experience had something to do with it. I guess they thought it would ease the transition.” Hetty and Captain Raydor must have finished their conversation, as at just that moment the captain called Sykes’ name. She excused herself quickly and headed towards her boss, the two women exiting the boat shed after saying a final goodbye to Hetty._

_Deeks chuckled bitterly, shoving his hands in his pockets as he caught Kensi’s eye. “Well that’s just not fair,” he said. “It took me four years to win Sam over. He’ll probably want to adopt Sykes by the end of her first day.”_

_Kensi’s gaze was soft and sad as she looked back at him. “None of this is fair, Deeks,” she murmured, reaching out and squeezing his arm as they made to leave the boat shed. He nodded, but didn’t speak – there was nothing he really needed to add to that sentiment anyway._

_They stepped out into the still-cool morning air, neither of them even giving Hetty a backward glance._

 

* * *

 

Deeks followed Captain Raydor down the short hallway leading to the division’s bullpen, but they veered off before they reached the open, desk-filled area and the captain ushered him into her office. She closed the door behind them and moved to sit behind her desk, offering him one of the visitor’s chairs. He sat, trying to quell his discomfort with long, slow breaths as he watched her search through the papers on her desk.

She found the right folder after a few moments, putting it in the center of her blotter and looking up at him with a small smile. “Detective, I know this can’t be easy for you –”

“That would be an understatement,” he cut in. Apparently his attempts at calming himself hadn’t worked all that well, given the slight bitterness he heard in his own voice.

“Yes, well,” to her credit, Captain Raydor didn’t appear flustered at all by his interruption. She leaned back in her chair and regarded him evenly. “This will be an adjustment for all of us. I’m glad that you arrived a little early. We’ll have time to go over your paperwork, and it’ll be easier to introduce you to the squad all at once when they arrive.”

“Right,” he murmured, pausing a moment before deciding to voice the question that had been weighing on his mind since leaving the boat shed the day before. “Captain, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” she said amiably.

He smoothed his tie, giving himself a moment to collect his thoughts before looking up at her. “There was a third condition, wasn’t there?”

“Pardon?”

“There was a third condition. To my being here instead of on leave. Wasn’t there? One that you and Hetty didn’t mention yesterday,” he held her gaze, clocking the moment when she tensed. It confirmed what he had suspected. The only question left was whether the captain would admit it. “I mean, this is completely against protocol. I can’t imagine that even Hetty’s string pulling skills could have been powerful enough to place me here. Which means that the chief must think that –”

“That my history with the FID will give him an edge, Captain Raydor interjected. “That while the official investigation is pursued via other channels, your presence under my command will give me a unique perspective with which to gain your trust and gather information from you while your guard is down. He didn’t say it in so many words, of course, but yes, the condition of my spying for him was heavily implied.”

Deeks sucked in a breath. He’d never thought she’d answer him so directly. “Why did you just actually tell me that?”

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the file she’d placed on her desk earlier and leveling him with a pointed, yet not unkind, look. “Two reasons, detective. First, as you guessed, what we said yesterday wasn’t  _quite_ the full truth. The chief had his own reasons for placing you here, and strings hardly needed to be pulled to make that happen. No, those strings Hetty was pulling on were mine.” He must have looked confused, because she smiled kindly as she continued. “I owed your other boss a rather substantial favor. When she found out you were being placed here, she collected. She asked me to give you the benefit of the doubt. If she believes you’re being unfairly railroaded by this investigation, then I trust her judgment.”

“What’s the second reason?”

She chuckled slightly. “I know all too well the opinion that most cops have of Internal Affairs, but when I served in the FID I firmly believed that we were doing an honorable service to the department. The LAPD is tasked with keeping the people of this city safe – I always saw Internal Affairs’ job as holding the department to the highest standards, so that its officers could do their jobs to the fullest and most honorable extent. Every investigation I ran was conducted with integrity.” She glanced down, fiddling with her watch for a moment before looking at him again. “Everything about what’s happening to you is being engineered – and before you ask, I don’t know why. But I’m not about to be part of an unethically run investigation. Truth is, Hetty really wasted her favor – I believe in letting people show me who they are, not deciding beforehand. As long as you do your level best for this division while you’re here, the chief will not get any unduly biased reports from me.”

To say that he was more than slightly taken aback by Captain Raydor’s words would have been an understatement. He ducked his head, unable, for a moment, to meet her gaze head on. “Um, thank you, captain. I appreciate that more than you know,” he said sincerely.

“Wait to thank me till I’ve introduced you to the rest of the squad,” she said with a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Deeks chuckled, but the mention of the rest of his temporary coworkers reminded him of another question. “Why do they think I’m here?”

The smirk on the captain’s face softened into a small smile. “None of them know about the investigation. They’ve been told you’re here on a simple exchange, to give another detective the experience and benefit of working with a government agency and to ensure the flexibility of the LAPD’s liaison program.”

He arched a skeptical brow. “And they bought that?”

She shrugged slightly. “More or less,” she opened the file and slid it across the desk towards him. “Don’t give them a reason to question it, and they won’t. Much.” She pointed at several spots in the paperwork. “I need to you initial all of these and then sign at the bottom.”

He followed her instructions, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth all the while. Despite the captain’s assurances, he wasn’t at all confident that the rest of the division would just accept him without wanting to know more about why he was here. He’d have to be very careful about what he shared – but then again, he was good at selective storytelling. It was kind of his thing after all, compartmentalizing his life into neat little boxes.  _Though if that were really true_ , his inner voice mocked,  _then how did it get to be such a fucking mess?_

Deeks finished with the papers and handed them back to the captain just as the muted rise and fall of several voices engaged in conversation passed by in the hallway outside her office. Captain Raydor took the folder from him, before standing and beckoning for him to follow her back out into the bullpen. Three men were in the process of getting settled at their desks for the day, but looked up when they stepped into the space.

“Lieutenant Tao, Detective Sanchez, Buzz,” the captain pointed to each man as she named them, “I’d like to introduce you to Detective Marty Deeks. He’ll be filling Detective Sykes’ spot while she’s on exchange.”

Deeks had traded only slightly awkward greetings with the other men. Buzz, the division’s civilian tech and surveillance wizard, was soft-spoken but determined in a way that reminded him of Eric. Lieutenant Tao seemed to be a fairly genial man – he shook Deeks’ hand firmly and insisted that he call him Mike. Detective Sanchez – Julio – was a little more intense, but was agreeable enough and was just in the process of showing Deeks to the desk he’d be using while he was with the division when a pair of arguing voices echoed down the hall.

“I’m just saying that I don’t see what the big deal is!” said the owner of the first voice, gravelly and irritated. Deeks stiffened, something vaguely familiar about that voice tickling at the back of his brain.

“Well, I know  _you_  don’t, but I think that Patrice definitely will, and you’re going to find that out pretty fast,” came the response from the second speaker as the two slightly older men emerged into the bullpen.

“Ah, Detective Deeks,” the captain spoke, catching his attention. “This is the rest of the squad.” She gestured towards the taller of the new arrivals. “I’d like you to meet Lieutenant Flynn –”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” the other, shorter man interrupted. Deeks’ attention shifted to him, and as soon as their eyes connected, he knew why the man’s voice had seemed so familiar. It had been a decades since they’d last seen each other, but there were some people in life, it seemed, that were truly impossible to forget.

He shook his head, huffing out a disbelieving breath before grinning slowly at the other man. “Hey there, Louie. Long time, no see.”


End file.
